Confidence Building Run

Today was suppose to be a rest day, but I had a migraine yesterday and couldn't run, so I ran today instead.  I can't quit thinking about the hill at mile 23.  My training plan no longer has me running hills, but I know I need to keep running them so today I hit 'em hard!

7 miles with 815 feet of elevation gain!

The Strava Grade Adjusted Pace:

	Ave HR	Elev Change	Actual Pace	Grade Adjusted Pace
Mile 1	125	47 ft	13:08	10:39
Mile 2	143	-38 ft	11:32	10:42
Mile 3	150	18 ft	11:11	10:23
Mile 4	152	128 ft	12:34	9:06
Mile 5	153	127 ft	11:44	9:24
Mile 6	149	-158 ft	10:48	11:10
Mile 7	147	-126 ft	11:01	10:51

After about a half mile walking warmup, I started running.  I only walked one time, just a portion of mile 4. It felt so good to be able to just keep going.  I know it wasn't 26.2 miles, but it felt good to feel strong again!

7 miles in 1:22:02, 11:43 pace.
Ave HR 145
Max HR 162
Calories burned 690

M2T W15

I really can't believe I'm less than 2 weeks away from Marathon #2!  With all the concerns with my Dad's health (he's doing a lot better as of today) I'm afraid training hasn't been as focused as it should have been for the past 6 weeks.  I'm ready to put this one behind me and take some time to just run for the pure love of it again!

This is week 15 of training. After this week, race day will be one week away.

This week you'll really start to feel the effort drop off, as you have three easy, short runs, a tempo run, and two days of rest, and your long run will be just 12 miles. As tough as it may be, resist the temptation to do more--you've done all the hard work of training to get fit. Now's the time to let your body adapt to the training stresses so that you can show up at the starting line strong, energized, and ready to run your best.

Sunday:  Rest Day
Monday: 5 Miles Easy w/5 Strides (pace 9:46)
Tuesday:  5 Miles w/3 Miles @ Tempo
Wednesday:  Rest
Thursday:  5 Miles Easy (pace 9:46)
Friday:  5 Miles Easy (pace 9:46)
Saturday:  12 Miles LSD (pace 10:04-11:04)

Total planned miles:  32

Write It In Pencil

Hammer Nutrition lists the Top 10 - The biggest mistakes endurance athletes make.  Most are related to fueling and hydration, but number 8 is "Sticking with your game plan even when it's not working."  What to do about it:

It's a good practice to have a game plan that includes a fueling protocol that you have refined during training, but you need to be flexible. Evaluate and adjust accordingly as race pace and weather dictate. Have a game plan, but write it in pencil, not in ink.

My plan for today and tomorrow was 5 miles easy today and 15 miles tomorrow.  Unfortunately, my Dad's health has taken a turn for the worse and I'll be driving to Fresno later today, then on to San Francisco tomorrow.  That meant if I was going to run 15 miles, it needed to happen today.  I didn't sleep much, I'm pretty worried about my Dad right now.  I finally gave up tossing and turning and got up at 4:30.

Remember I mentioned it was windy yesterday?  Gusts of about 15 mph.  Here's what this morning looked like:

When I got home ~ in case you can't read it, winds were gusting up to 35 mph.

My game plan changed about 4 or 5 times while I was out.  First I was going to run 15 miles.  Then I thought I'd go for 13.  Then I thought I'd run a minimum of 2 1/2 hours.  I finally downgraded to 2 hours.  It just wasn't working.  Every corner I turned the wind seemed to get worse.  At one point I was pelted by sand and leaves.  Another time I was whacked in the leg by a branch! 

Really, who else was running in this stuff today?  Not.One.Other.Person.  That's right, I didn't see anyone else running while I was out!  I had leaves in my clothes when I got home and this is what my socks looked like.  I ran on sidewalks the entire time, not a trail!

All in all, it wasn't my worst effort, but it certainly wasn't my best.  I just didn't have the emotional strength either, I felt like I was carrying an extra 50 pounds on my shoulders.  50 pounds called "Worry."

9.02 miles in 2:03:11, 13:39 pace.
Ave HR 133
Max HR 154
Calories burned 798

Today's Run = Wind and Hills

Today's run called for 7 miles easy. Someone needed to let Mother Nature know about that!  We're got Santa Ana winds blowing around here.  Gusts of about 15 mph do not make for an easy run.  Since yesterday was a rest day, I decided to push through the wind and add hills to the mix.  After running the  climb that is at mile 23 of my marathon, I know I can't back off hills now.

Here's what Strava had to say:

	Ave HR	Elev   Change	Actual Pace	Grade Adjusted Pace
Mile 1	133	37 ft	12:16	10:12
Mile 2	143	102 ft	12:01	9:28
Mile 3	140	-94 ft	11:07	10:52
Mile 4	149	174 ft	12:44	9:09
Mile 5	141	-48 ft	11:52	11:02
Mile 6	147	2 ft	11:12	10:31
Mile 7	142	-177 ft	11:07	10:46
0.12 mi	139	4 ft	10:49	10:14

I wore my clear lenses today to protect my eyes from blowing debris.  Quite the fashion statement, but they did the job.

7.12 miles in 1:23:41, 11:45 pace.  866 feet elevation gain.

Ave HR 142
Max HR 157
Calories burned 700

M2T W14

This is week 14 of training. After this week, race day will be two weeks away. Your taper officially begins.

You’ll have three easy runs, two days of rest, and a tempo run, which will be shorter, but faster than the tempo work you did a few weeks ago. Your long run will drop back to 15 miles.

Sunday:  Rest Day
Monday: 8 Miles Easy w/8 Strides (pace 9:46)
Tuesday:  8 Miles w/4 Miles @ Tempo
Wednesday:  Rest
Thursday:  7 Miles Easy (pace 9:46)
Friday:  7 Miles Easy (pace 9:46)
Saturday:  15 Miles LSD (pace 10:04-11:04)

Total planned miles:  45

Race for the Cure Report

I ran less than 10 miles this week leading up to the Race for the Cure. Lucky for me it was a 5K and not a marathon!  I didn't have a t-shirt with Mom's picture, so I put one in a name tag and wore it.

This is my favorite picture of Mom.  Pre-cancer, she's holding her three grandchildren.  Ryan was born in January and Krysten and Lauren were born in March of 1987.  I don't know anyone who was happier to be a grandma!

It was a beautiful morning here in Fresno. 58 degrees when I made my way to Fresno State. Lots of pink everywhere. I pulled in at the same time as Caroline and Rob, so we didn't spend anytime looking for each other!

We wandered around a little while, made a few pit stops, then watched the men take off. About 14 minutes later, the winner came back! The volunteer cheer team wasn't even in place when he rounded the corner. At 8:00 the horn went off and it was the ladies turn to run.

The route was a quick out and back on very flat roads. SO different to what I'm use to. Caroline and I talked the entire time!

The volunteers were great! Cheering everyone on and handing out water. We finished in 39:38. This was Caroline's fastest run!

And she had a great guy waiting for her at the finish line. Actually three great guys and one great girl!

My legs felt great the entire time for the first time in over a week!  As much as I didn't want to cut back last week, I'm so glad I did.  I'm feeling a lot better about lining up in Santa Barbara in three weeks! Nothing like a race to fire you up for another race!!

Central Valley Race for the Cure

I'll be running the Susan G. Komen Central Valley Race for the Cure with Caroline on Saturday morning.  It's a 5K, so I'm thinking about running to it from my Dad's house (about 3 miles), running the race, then running home.  My legs are finally feeling better.  They were dead all week.

This is my first Race for the Cure, although I have supported this and many other cancer causes for years.  I'm sitting here wishing I had made a shirt with a picture of my Mom on it, but too late now.  It's been fourteen years this month since we lost her to breast cancer.  I've done my share of crying while out running, and I imagine this will be pretty emotional for me.

If you're in Fresno with nothing to do on Saturday morning, come cheer us on!  And if you can't do that, eat some pink M&Ms for me.